Machine for making box-blanks.



H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOX BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 11, l9l6.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKI=NG BOX ELAN-KS.

' APPLICATION FILED OCT. u. 191-6. 1,292,1 1 9. Patented Jan. 21, 1919. s swans-sum 2.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

6 SHEETSSHEEI 3 H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOX BLANKS.

APPLICATION men OCT. 1|, l9l6.

' gwuwnloz M J. $.4 adww H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING Box BLANKS.

\ Patented Jan. 21,1919.

APPLICATION FILED QCT- ll, I9I6. 1,292,1 19.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOX BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. H, 1916.

Patented J an.21 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEETb.

H. L. STALEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOX BLANKS.

AIPPLICATION- FILED ocr. n. 1915.

, 1,292; 1 9.- Patented Jan. 21,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

HARRISON L. STALEY, OF MARTINSVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO WILTS VENEER COMPAN'Y, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOX-ELAN KS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 11, 1916. Serial No. 125,060.

certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for making Box-Blanks, of which the following is a full and clear specification.

This invention relates especially to machines for scoring and reinforcing box blanks of the type disclosed in Patent No. 1,162,524 dated November 30, 1915, to myself and W. B. Simmons, in which the fold lines of the blank are formed by gouging or grooving the blank along the fold lines and pasting in these grooves a strip of re1n forcing fabric, the margins of the strip of fabric overlapping upon the body of the blank adjacent the groove. The present machine is adapted to receive these blanks 1n abutting relation so that the blanks will form in effect a continuous web passing through the machine, means being provided for gouging or cutting longitudinal grooves 1n the blanks and then creasing the fabric strip and pressing it down into the groove, a suitable adhesive being provided for securing the re inforcing fabric in place and suitable means being provided also for severing the strip or strips of fabric at the joints between the blanks, so that the machine will deliver the blanks properly grooved and reinforced, ready for folding, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view and Fig. 2 a vertical sectional view of the essential parts of a machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing more particularly the devices for timing the operation of the cutter for severing the reinforcing strips at the joints between the blanks;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the essential parts of the devices illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view enlarged showing the devices for creasing and pressing the reinforcing strips into place;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the same; 1

Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the mechanism for driving the feed rolls and operating the cutter; v

relation are fed into the Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 are detail views hereinafter described.

The blanks in succession and in abutting machine on the table 6, between guide bars 0, one of which is made laterally adjustable in a suitable manner to ada t the machine to blanks a of different wi ths. The blanks are carried continuously through the machine by. suitable pairs of feed rolls d driven in unison in any suitable manner, preferably by a counter-shaft e journaled at one side of the machine and provided with gears f meshing Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

with gears g on the shafts of the lower rolls d, each pair of rolls being geared together by a pair of gears h. These shafts and gears are, driven by means of mechanism located at the opposite side of the machine and arranged to drive through a gear 2' affixed to theshaft of the lower one of the last pair of rolls d. This gear 21 is driven by pinion j aflixed to the power shaft which carries the driving belt wheel Z. To secure a positive feed of the blanks, one ,of the pairs of rolls 0? may be corrugated, as shown. After the blanks pass the first pair of feed rolls, they are longitudinally grooved by suitable mechanism, preferably by a plurality of rotary cutter heads m mounted adjustably on a transverse shaft 41. and driven in any suitable manner, two belt pulleys 0 being shown in the drawing for driving this shaft, it being my intention to use either one of these pulleys according to which one it is most convenient to belt up tothe shafting in the shop. A suitable hood and tube p is provided for each one of these cutters, so that by means of suitable exhaust mechanism the shavings may be carried away.

- Underneath the cutter heads is arranged an idle roll 9, and,

to press the moving blank against this roll while it is being operated on by the cutters, I provide suitable springactuated pressing shoes 1' which are pivotally and adjustablymounted so as to enable them to be properly adjusted with relation to the cutter heads. 7

After the blanks are thus grooved and pass through the corrugated feed rolls, they pass between a suitable number of pairs of.

parallel bars 8, these bars being arranged to assist in guiding the blanks through the creasing and cutting mechanism hereinafter described. These pairs of bars are rendered pa I Leeann transversely adjustable with respect to each other by means of clamp blockst fastened.

to their forward endaand arran edtoclamp the bars to suitable transverse ramefbeams u, as shown more particularly imFig. 3'.- The rear ends of these bars are maintained in position by means of bracket arms n fastened to the bars and adapted to bear against adjacent transverse frame beams w.

While the blanks are passing between the parallel rods 8, the tape a: is applied to them, along the line of the groove, and then the cutters are brought into action to sever the tape on the line of the joint between the blanks. The tape 00 is delivered from an overhead reel y which is adjustably mounted" on a transverse frame beam 2, so as to enable it to be adjusted .in line with the groove in the blank. As many of these reels and tapes are employedas there are grooves to be reinforced. The tape may be of any fabric, but is preferably of paper having an adhesive applied to one side. The tape passes down under a guide roller a, thence over the moistening roller 6 which is sup plied with the proper amount of moisture by.

rollc which dips .in a water fountain, and from the moisteni'ng roller 12 the tape passes down under a guide roll d journaled near.

the upper face of the blanks, and thence the tape passes under the pressure shoe 6' by which it is pressed into the groove and against the face of the blank adjacent the groove, the moistened adhesive insuring its adhesion to the blank. The moistening rollers are carried by a bracket f which is bolted to a rearwardly extending arm 9" adjustably clamped to a transverse beam M of the frame of the machine. The guide roller d and the shoe 6' are also carried by the arm 9, so that these devices together with the moistening rollers may be adjusted transversely of the machine to aline with the reel and the groove in the blank.

Guide roller (1' is journaled in arms 2''- depending from the bar 9' and hanger arms 71 are extended rearwardly to afford a pivotal support for the shoe 6'. The shoe'e' is provided with a suitable resilient'pad j and is keptresiliently pressed toward the blank by means of a coil spring lo, surrounding a rod Z rising from the shoe and passing through an eye n the bar m which is engaged in notches in longitudinal frame beams a, said rod m forming an abutment against which the rod 1 rests to thus normally press the shoe against the blank. To vary the tension at the upper end, the rod 7 Z is provided with a nut o'.- To fold or crease the paper down in the groove in the blank, the shoe e. is provided with a creasing runner p arranged in a longitudinal slot in theunder side of the shoe, this runner being normally pressed downwardly by a pair ofcoil springs g and being limited in its up and down movement bymeans of a slot. and. pin connection r.- :The creasing runner extends forwardly to a point beyond ;the front face of the shoe, shown particularly in Fig. 5, so that the tape will, be ini-- tially creased or folded before it passes under the shoe e, as shown in Fig. 12, whereby tearing or rupturing of the tape is avoided, it being obvious that if the creasing of the tape were postponed until it passed under the'shoe e and it were subjected to the pressure thereof on each side-of the groove, it would be a difficult matter to then. crease the tape without rupturing it. A suitable complementaryshoe s is arranged under the blank to oppose the pressure of the. shoe 6 and thus support the blank while the tape is being pressed into position. ll prefer employing a lower shoe identical in structure with the upper shoe 0' except that the shoe may be resilient in the same manner as the upper shoe, and when (as in the machine illustrated in my drawings) tape t is to be applied to the under side of the blank for reinforcing purposes',I will em- After the tapes are applied in the manner above set forth, they are subjected to the action of resilient idle rolls a which are driven by frictional engagement with the .tapes'and are adjustably mounted on a transverseshaft '0'. Behind the rolls to, the severing cutters w are arranged, these outters being adjustably mounted on transverse shafts :0 whose ends are geared together by a air of gears y. One of'the gears'yf is.

a xed to a friction brake wheel 2 against whlch a frictionally-pressed brake shoe a" nism at rest during the period it is not being positively driven by the following mechanism. v y

The shaft w is extended beyond the brake wheel 2, and. upon this extension is journaled a gear 0" which carries on-its' inner face .a ratchet wheel 03, said gear 0" being driven constantly by a pinion e" afiixed to the power shaft A pawl f" is pivoted on the outer face of the brake wheel a in such position that when it is'swung inwardly toward the axial center of the wheel it will engage the aforesaid ratchet wheel ol ,,so that when this pawl f" is engaged with said ratchet wheel the brake wheel will be rotated against the frictional action of the shoe a and the cutters w will be rotated through the medium of their gears 'and shafts. To throw the pawl 7 into engagement with the ratchet Wheel d" at the proper time, I employ the following mechanism:

A ro'ck shaft 9 is journaled 0n the frame works at all times to hold the cutting mecha- I 85 creasing runner is omitted. This lower to the inner end of the pivot of the pawl f", so that when the lower end of lever i" is swung toward the finger 7'" it will raise the same and thus lift the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, and vice versa. To rock the shaft 9" at the proper time, I provide the same with a depending arm and pivot to the lower end thereof an arm Z which extends downwardly and forwardly under the upper cutter shaft :11,

its forward end being normally pressed toward the face of the blank by means of a small coil spring m". The forward end of the arm is pivotally connected to the upwardly-extending link 0" whose upper end is provided'with'a horizontal pin 12" which slides invertical slots in'a pair'of upstanding posts 9" mounted on either side of the longitudinal slot r" in one of the upper guide bars 8. This upstanding link 0" is provided with a forwardly and downwardly-extending finger 8", and at a point slightly ahead of the finger s" the lower guide bar 8 is provided with a hump t". in its upper face so-arranged that as the blanks pass along, this hump will serve to bulge them upwardly slightly, as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that when the forward edge of each succeeding blank is bulged upwardly by the hump t", it will strike against-theforward end of the arm I" and push the same rearwardly' and thus rock shaft g" and swing lever 2'" far enough to lower pawl i" into engagement with the ratchet Wheel. The cutters will then be given a complete rotation to sever the tapes coincident with the joint between the blanks. The

rearward movement of the arm Z" will pull down link 0 and thus press down, through the medium of finger s, the forward edge of the blank for enough to disengageut from the nose of the arm Z, whereupon said arm Z",

and all its connected parts will be free to be returned to normal positions. This return of the parts to normal position is accomplished by the striking of the finger 3'" against the lower end of the arm 71" after the brake wheel a. has made a complete revolution, and after the finger 7'" has swung the arm 11" sufficiently for this purpose said finger j" rides up on the cam-like surface at the lower end of the arm 2'" and thus lifts the pawl 7 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel (5. To insure the blanks being pressed down on the lower bar 8 when the cutters are performing their severing operation, 1 provide one or more of'the upper bars 8 with a pressure shoe u" at a point coincident with the cutting point. It W111 be understood that the hump .t" necessarily produces a slight upward wave or rounded ridge in the blanks as they pass through the machine, but this-will not be suflicient to either bend or injure the blanks or laterally displace them. It will be understood, however, that this bulging of the-blanks as they pass through the machine forms no function 'exce t that when the forward edge'of each blan passes over the hump this serves to lift this forward edge far eno h above the rear edge of the preceding gage the nose of the arm l.

It will be observed that in Fig. 11 the moistenin rolls 6' and c are provided with annular moistening pad and. peripherally contact lank to en-' anges v" which embrace the with each other, thus relieving the annular moistening pads on .the rolls from exces sive pressure. It has been found-that when rolls without these flanges are employed, it frequently happens amount of water will be applied tothe tape;

that an excessive with these annular flanges in contact it has been found that just the right amount of moisture can be applied to the adhesive on the tape to insure perfect adhesion to the blanks.

Having thus described .my invention,

. v general class set what I claimis:

1. In a machine of the forth, the combination of means for feeding a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to the blanks, and automatic means for serving the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a cutter and mechanism for operating the same, a device for engaging with the front end of each blank, and a device for laterally deflecting thefront edge of each blank out of alinement with the rear edge of the preceding bla 2. In a machine of the general class set forth, the combination of means for feeding a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a cutter, mechanism for operating the same, and a device for engaging with the front end of each blank as it approaches the cutter, and also a device for elevating the front edge of each blank above the rear edge of the precedin blank.

3. In a machine 0 the general class set forth, the combination of means for. feeding a succession of blanks, means forapplying continuously a tape to one face of the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a cutter, mechanism for operating the same, and devices for putting said mechanism into operation at the proper time, said devices consisting of a hump for raising the front edge of each blank. above the rear edge of the preceding blank, a trip lever agamstwhich said elevated front edge strikes, and devices connected to this lever for starting the mechanism for operating the cutter.

4. In a machine of the generalclass set forth, the combination of means for feeding a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to one face of the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a rearwardly movable trip lever adapted to be engaged by the front edge of each blank and movable rearwardly therewith, a device for elevating the front edge of each blank for engagement, with said lever, and means whereby when the cutter is put into operation by the movement of said lever the elevated front edge of the blank will be automatically depressed sufficiently to pass by said lever, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a machine of the general class set forth, the combination of means for feeding a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to one face of the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a rearwardly movable trip lever adapted to be engaged by the front edge of each blank and movable rearwardly therewith, a device for elevating the front edge of each blank for engagement with said lever, and means whereby when the cutter is put into operation by the move ment of said lever the elevated front edge of the blank will be automatically depressed sufiiciently to pass by said lever, this latter means being pivotally connected to the lever and provided with a depressing finger operating on top of the blank.

6. In a machine of the general class set forth, the combination of means for feeding blanks an adhesive tape to the face of the blanks, a shoe for pressingv the tape against the blanks to cause the tape to adhere thereto, a guide roller'for the tape, this guide roller and said shoe being mounted on swinging links, and means for pressing the shoe and the links resiliently toward the face of the blank. I v

7. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of means for continuously feeding grooved blanks through the machine and means for pasting a tape to the face of the blanks and down in said groove, said means consisting of devices. for feeding an adhesive tape, and a resiliently-pressed shoe adapted'to press the tape against the face of the blank and carrying an auxiliary shoe or runner adapted to force the tape down in said groove. 7

8. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of means for continuously feedin succession, means for feeding,

meat in adapted to press the tape against the face of theblank and carrying an auxiliary shoe or runner adapted to force the tape down in said groove, said runner extending tforwardly beyond the shoe to initially crease the tape before it'passes under the shoes for the purpose set forth.

9. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of means for continuously feeding grooved blanks through the machine and means for pasting a tape to the face of.

the blanks and down in said groove, said means consisting of devices for feeding an adhesive tape, and a resiliently-pressed shoe adapted to press the tape against the face of the blank and carrying an auxiliary shoe or runner adapted to force the tape down in saidgroove, said runner extending forwardly beyond the shoe to initially crease the tape before it passes under the shoe, said runner having a resilient movement independently of the shoe.

10. In a machine of the general. class set forth, the combination of means for feeding a succession of blanks,- means for applying continuously a tape to the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a cutter and mechanism for operating the same, a device for engaging with the front end of eachblank, and a devicefor blank out of alinement with the rearedge of the preceding blank, a device being provided for pressing the deflected edge of the sheet back into alinement with the preceding sheet before the cutting operation takes place.

11. Ina machine of the general class set forth, the combination of means for feedlaterally deflecting the frontedge of each ing a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the blanks, said means embodying a cutter, mechanism for operating the same, and devices for putting said mechanism into operation at the proper time, said devices consisting of a device for continuously raising the-front edge of each blank above the rear edge of the preceding blank, a trip lever against which said elevated front edge strikes, and devices connected to this lever for starting the mechanism for operating the cutter.

12. In a machine .of the generah class set forth, the combination of means for feed ing a succession of blanks, means for applying continuously a tape to the blanks, and automatic means for severing the tape at the joints between the-blanks, this latter anism for rotating said cutter, said mechanism embodying a series of gears and a brake-wheel and a constantly-operating brake, a device for deflecting the forward .edge of each blank as it approaches the cutter, and means operated by said deflected edge for positively locking the brake-wheel to said gearing to thereby rotate the brakewheel against action of its brake and cause the cutter to operate.

13. In a machine of the class set forth, means for feeding blanks in succession through' the machine, means for continuously feeding an adhesive tape to the face of the blanks and applying it thereto, this latter means being bodily adjustable back and forth across the machine and consisting of a reel for carrying a tape, moistening means for the tape, a guide roller adjacent to the face of the blank, a pressure shoe under which the tape passes, angle levers pivotally hung and carrying said guide roller and said shoe and also means for-resiliently pressing the shoe against the tape. 1 14. In a machine of the class set forth, a series of sets of rollers for feeding the blanks through the machine, one pair, of these rollers being corrugated, means for grooving the blanks as they pass through the machine,

means for applying a tape to the face of the blank along the line of said groove, this means being provided with a device for creasing the tape and forcing it down into said groove.

15. In a machine of the class set forth, a series of sets of rollers for feeding the blanks through the machine, one pair of these rollers being corrugated, means for grooving theblanks as they pass through the machine, means for applying a tape to the face of the blank along the line of said groove, this means being provided with a device for creasing the tape and forcing it down into said groove, and a air of pressure rollers arranged behind said means for applying the tape.

16. In a machine of the class set forth, means for feeding blanks in abutting relation through the machine, means for first grooving the blanks, means for then applymg an adhesive tape to the blanks in the line of the groove, this means being provided with a device for creasing the tape and forein it down into said groove, and automatica ly-operating devices for severing the tape at the abutting edges of the blanks.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

HARRISON L. STALEY. 

